Given the surplus of Arab teachers and the shortage of Jewish teachers in Israel, the government has adopted the policy of employing Arab teachers in Jewish schools, contrary to the dominant nationalistic agenda. We argue that this low-cost solution meets the criteria for disruptive innovation in that it flies under the radar and has the potential to proliferate and change the existing social order. Through surveys and interviews with boundary-crossing Arab teachers, this article finds that teachers circumvent power structures in three social fields. In the Arab community, work in Jewish schools helps teachers bypass nepotism and provides a new path for upward mobility. In the education system, boundary-crossing teachers disrupt segregation. And at the state level, this innovation may improve Jewish-Arab relations.

Twenty-first century teachers are expected to have a holistic approach to teaching including addressing students’ self-determination, interpersonal awareness, cultural sensitivity, empathy and self-regulation. Discussions of controversial political issues (CPI) provide opportunities to examine the interplay between emotional and cognitive components, the former having rarely been studied. As part of a larger study, teachers were asked to provide a description of a CPI discussion in class. The 387 valid responses were analysed qualitatively, and the model that emerged connected triggers, motivations, responses and outcomes. The students and teachers were found to have different motivations and needs: while students were concerned with emotional needs, teachers had educational goals in mind. Teachers wanted to quell the emotional unease, to prevent racist remarks, to keep control of the classroom, and to tie the discussions to the curriculum. Teachers mainly used cognitive responses and somewhat allowed students to ventilate, or used moderating responses, all of which produced partial results. Some teachers avoided the discussion altogether, which was the least useful. The smallest proportion used a mixture of responses, which met both educational and emotional needs. Implications to teacher training, including the importance of training in social-emotional aspects of teaching, are discussed.

Belonging is a basic human experience that symbolizes social relations and social structure. This study examined the institutional sense of belonging of minority teachers to their school and its association with sociodemographic (first language, education and gender) and systemic variables (seniority, heterogeneity of training college, teaching discipline, role at school and education system). We found that sociodemographic variables had a much stronger association to the teachers’ sense of belonging than systemic variables did. Particularly, a strong relationship was found between the teachers’ sense of belonging and what they defined as their first language. Conversely, most systemic variables had no relation to institutional belonging, except teaching discipline. The findings indicate the difficulties education systems have in incorporating minority teachers or even moderating their sense of otherness by offering the opportunity of recognition of all teachers. We argue that this stems from native language being a core/basic status, whether it is related to immigration or to a national divide.

The research delves into the impact of a programme designed to retrain Arab teachers for roles in Jewish schools, followed by a year of teaching in a Jewish school. A comparative analysis with programme applicants reveals nuanced results, challenging initial hypotheses. Graduates showed higher scores in ‘teachers’ attitudes towards shared living’, yet they also felt more ‘perceived hostility’ from their Jewish counterparts compared to applicants, suggesting that being a boundary-crossing teacher for a year has a limited impact. Applicants lacking experience in Jewish schools exhibited significantly lower scores in ‘attitudes towards shared living’, aligning with the contact hypothesis. However, differences in other variables lacked clarity. The results partly stem from the teachers’ limited experience. However, given the persistent unequal conditions, these boundary-crossing teachers are likely to continue practising contact from an unequal position within Israeli society. As such, theoretical frameworks should evolve to accommodate the complexities of these phenomena acknowledging the persistent challenges faced by boundary-crossing teachers, particularly in terms of unequal status. Graduates showed higher ‘perceived hostility’ scores than applicants without prior experience, highlighting the intricate nature of contact and the impact of reality on optimism. The study also delved into identity dynamics, revealing consistent hierarchies across groups. While teachers working in Jewish schools rated their Palestinian identity lower, the balance within each group suggested a multidimensional approach to identity negotiation. The study’s findings call for a refined understanding of intercultural contact, acknowledging diverse outcomes beyond simplified success or failure.